As Malaysia headed to the Asian Cup, qualifying on merit after 43 years, Derrick Gan scraped together some RM4,500 from selling his motorcycle via Facebook in December.

The 30-year-old managed to save RM1,500 over a year after it was confirmed in June 2022 that Malaysia had qualified for the 2023 Asian Cup.

However, after meticulously charting out his trip, Gan found that he was still short on funds, prompting him to put his motorcycle up for sale.

“That was my only motorcycle. I have a car, but my wife uses it (for city driving) in Kuala Lumpur. But I didn’t mind selling (the motorcycle) because I really wanted to go to Qatar to cheer on Harimau Malaya.

“My total expenditure for Qatar, including flight tickets, food, accommodation and football tickets, was around RM6,000. My savings alone was not enough so I decided to sell my motorbike,” he said.

Gan, who hails from Bandar Hilir in Melaka, flew to Doha on Jan 12 to watch Malaysia take on Bahrain and South Korea.

While Malaysia failed to progress beyond the group stage after losing to Bahrain 1-0, the thrilling 3-3 draw with South Korea was a night to remember for him.

“There are no words to describe my feelings at that time (when Malaysia took the lead at 2-1). I was happy after sacrificing and seeing Malaysia fighting with enthusiasm, it was really touching

“Stealing a draw with South Korea is very meaningful, it’s like a dream come true for all of us Malaysian football fans,” he said.

The 3-3 draw gave Malaysia its first point in an Asian Cup since the 1980 tournament, which it qualified for on merit. Malaysia last appeared in the 2007 Asian Cup as one of the co-hosts.

Gan stole the attention of netizens after he was caught on camera celebrating Malaysia’s draw jubilantly, going on to be nicknamed the “brown haired bro”.

Netizens eventually connected the dots and found that he was the Facebook user who sold his motorcycle to travel to Qatar to support Harimau Malaya.